


Dead Man's Party

by polymathmichael



Series: The Six Demons [2]
Category: Shadowrun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 06:05:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10961238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polymathmichael/pseuds/polymathmichael





	Dead Man's Party

Spooky moved away from Sarah and lay still, catching his breath.  After a moment, she got up to use the bathroom. "Don't get too comfortable, Eugene." she said with a glance back at him.

It was hard not to get comfortable in this bed. It was, without a doubt, the nicest bed he had ever been in. The mattress probably cost more than his childhood home and the sheets were more expensive than most of his gear. But Sarah had a point. It was no use relaxing into a bed where he wasn't going to sleep. Spooky still had work to do.

The tuxedo he had been wearing earlier in the evening went back into its garment bag and out came a small bag with that night's work clothes. A snug base layer went on first to protect his harder to clean, and much more valuable, SecondSkin armor. His usual armored vest, along with SecureTech arm and leg kits, had been left at his apartment. Tonight required going light on armor in favor of stealth and leaving little behind. He didn't even have his ballistic helmet and had opted for a ruthenium hood and AR contact lenses in its place.

As Spooky finished putting the contacts in and making sure they synced with his commlink, Sarah returned with a long nylon case and a very high-tech grapple gun. Of course, she hadn't bothered to get dressed. The nylon case was tossed unceremoniously onto the bed while she checked some setting on the grapple gun.

"Did you ID the target?" she said without preamble.

Spooky nodded. "Mid to late-fifties. Shaved head to hide the balding. Old scar above his left eye, about one centimeter long. Had a gold ring set with a blue sapphire on his pinky ring and was drinking a vodka tonic. He was sitting at a table in the back and feeding lines to Shinomura through an earpiece while you were talking to him about the waterfront deal."

"Good boy. His name is Asfandyar and his itinerary says he'll be leaving in twenty minutes. His pattern is to take the back service exit so you need to get across to the other building." That explained why they had a room at the rear of the hotel. Silverleaf usually wanted the best view possible and this pick had been out of character for her. She walked out onto the rooms balcony with the grapple gun, aimed carefully, and fired. A spool of thin, light rope followed. Sarah let out some extra rope and Spooky cut it before tying it to the foot of the bed.

"You'll also need this." Sarah said as she unzipped the case and flipped it open, revealing a Ranger Arms sniper rifle. Spooky let out a low whistle. "Don't get excited. You don't get to keep it. In fact, I want you to leave it  
behind. And do not use the smartlink system."

Spooky was checking over the rifle when she said that. "That's going to make this marginally more difficult." At least it was loaded with armor piercing rounds.

"If it was easy, I wouldn't need you to do it. When that gun is found I don't want your electronic fingerprints on it."

"Got it. You have the catalyst stick for this rope?"

"Of course. I'll wait till you get back, Eugene. Assuming you do this right."

Spooky slung the rifle over his shoulders and began climbing.

\---

Spooky lay patiently, scope watching the service exit of the hotel. If Silverleaf's information was correct, the dead man would be leaving in three minutes. In fact, he had probably just sent his driver for the car. His earpiece crackled to life.

"Change of plans. Target has requested his driver to pick him up at the front."

Well, there went "always leaves by the back". Time for plan B.

Spooky quickly got to his feet and secured the rifle around him. "I need you to fire another rope to the top of your building" he replied. Fortunately he had already removed the grapple anchor and tied off the rope so that there wouldn't be any evidence that he'd been here at least. He saw Silverleaf come back out on the balcony with the grapple gun as he quickly ziplined back. He noticed that she still hadn't put on any clothes.

As soon as his feet touched the balcony, Spooky was climbing up to the roof. By the time he made it, Silverleaf's call of "Ninety seconds." sounded in his ear. The rope, which he'd hauled up with him, was dropped in a loose coil as he sprinted across the top of the building, maneuvering faster than humanly possible around all of the various equipment and structures that exist on the building roofs that people never think about. If he hadn't spent so much time up on roofs, Spooky probably wouldn't think about it either.

"Forty-five seconds."

Spooky lay down and tried to slow his breathing. He aimed the gun down the front of the building and looked through the scope.

"Thirty seconds."

There was a canopy. That's why he'd picked the front. Fuck.

"Fifteen seconds."

Asfandyar's car was pulling up to the canopy. He couldn't even see the guy.

"He's getting in the car. Why are you letting him get in the car."

"No line of site. Just give me a moment. I've got it handled."

The car started to pull away from the hotel. No one was visible through the darkened windows at the back of the car.

"What do you mean…?"

The loud report of the rifle sounded twice and the car swerved off the road and into the building across the street.

"Target and his driver are down." Spooky dropped the rifle and sprinted back across. He needed to get off the roof before anyone figured out where the shots came from. He got to the edge, grabbed the rope and backed up slightly.

"Coming in hot." Spooky launched himself away from the building and hoped there wasn't too much slack in the rope. As it snapped taut, he suddenly hoped there wasn't too little, either. He twisted his body so he was swinging feet first towards the building. If he missed, maybe he could minimize any injuries.

It looked like he didn’t need to worry. He saw Sarah's shocked face as she jumped out of the way and he made it just barely above the rail around the balcony and through the open door into the room. Spooky let go and slammed into the side of the bed, his feet resting on the blankets and his back on the carpeted floor.

"What. The actual. Fuck." was all Silverleaf said. She had already activated the catalyst on the rope and he could see the little motes of dust float away from the building. Sirens were sounding outside. Spooky picked himself up and started removing his clothes. He was going to at least get a hot shower out of this.

Fifteen minutes later, somewhat refreshed and with a towel around his waist, Eugene stepped out of the bathroom. Sarah was in the bed under a sheet and he could tell by the way her eyes flicked and her fingers moved that she was checking her AR feeds. His SecondSkin was back in it's pack and a slim credstick sat next to it. Nothing about the room indicated that a crazed man had just swung into it from the roof.

"Asfandyar is confirmed dead. Took a round right through the skull somehow. Security has started sweeping the hotel for suspects but I was able to assure them we had been occupied the entire time." Sarah flipped down the sheet on the bed and patted the spot next to her. "Why don't you come here and get comfortable, Eugene?" she asked with a coy smile.


End file.
